India may be smarting from a 10-wicket defeat to England in the second Test, but that hasn’t prompted any kneejerk reaction from the selectors, who have announced a largely unchanged squad for the third Test in Kolkata on Dec. 5-9.

The only change to the squad, which lost to England inside four days in Mumbai, is the inclusion of Ashok Dinda as a replacement for the injured fast bowler Umesh Yadav.

India was soundly beaten by England in the second Test, and questions hang over many key players, including the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar. The calls for Tendulkar to stand down are getting louder, but it’s unfair to single him out.

Virat Kohli, who has been in such rich form in the past couple of years, is also out of touch, carelessly giving away his wicket in both innings in Mumbai. The 24-year-old was recently named Indian cricketer of the year, and rightly so, but a heavy hangover has set in during this series.

Gautam Gambhir maintains his place at the top of the order, despite also being in a rough patch. His 65 in the second innings in Mumbai was comfortably the highest score by an Indian batsman, but it was a scratchy knock that did little to confirm he is out of his slump. He has had plenty of half-centuries, but you have to go all the way back to Jan. 17, 2010, for Gambhir’s last Test ton, which came against Bangladesh in Chittagong. That’s too long a wait for an opening batsman.

Fellow opener Virender Sehwag is as mercurial as ever, scoring a century in the first Test, when India thrashed England by nine wickets, and then failing to build on solid starts in his other innings. He has at times been lackadaisical when fielding in the slips, but remains a joy to watch and is a player the English, like any opponent, should fear.

India’s other centurion in the first Test, Cheteshwar Pujara, has been the standout player for his country this series so far. England simply couldn’t get him out in the first Test in Ahmedabad, when he scored 206 and 41, and then in Mumbai he scored a first innings 135 before getting out for just six in the second. Without him, India could already be halfway to a first home series defeat to England since 1985.

Yuvraj Singh, making a welcome return to the Test team after his cancer battle, has played well, but not up to his spectacular best, which in fairness is typically reserved for shorter forms of the game. India’s number six scored 74 in the first Test but had a poor time in Mumbai, with scores of 0 and eight. He also hasn’t taken any wickets.

Those have come almost exclusively from Pragyan Ojha, who has taken 14 wickets in the four-Test series so far. But even he was outshone by the English spin duo of Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann in Mumbai, where they took 19 wickets.

India has gone for slow, turning tracks, but that decision could be backfiring as Panesar and Swann assert themselves over the hosts. After being left out for the Ahmedabad Test, Panesar will surely feature for England in Kolkata after his career-best performance at Wankhede Stadium. India’s other spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh, who has now played 99 Tests, need to raise their games to support Ojha and challenge Panesar and Swann for the glowing reviews.

But the headlines are still most likely to be reserved for the big names of Tendulkar and Dhoni. The pressure has mounted high on both players. Dhoni will need to be at his cool, unflappable best to ride out this mini-crisis, while Tendulkar will be acutely aware that his career, and indeed his legacy, will be on the line in Kolkata.

No cricket fan wants to remember him as a true great who hung around too long, not knowing when to call time on his career. But questions are being asked, as Geoff Boycott said on the BBC during the Mumbai Test: “Play better or time’s up. I’m sorry, it is, for all of us it comes. He’s got to work it out whether it’s time up or he must find a way to play a hell of a lot better.”

Tendulkar is the only one who can silence the doubters. The way he knows best is to go out and play a majestic innings at Eden Gardens. But this time, when he marches to the crease, the rejuvenated England players are unlikely to be quaking in their boots quite as much as in the old days.

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